Community Cube
Jack H.
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Interactive art is interesting to me because viewers can make their own unique connections to it. I make art pieces that both exist for other people to enjoy and help me grow as a person. I make both physical interactive art, like a pendulum people can swing, and digital interactive art in the form of video games. All of the things I make are difficult, long term projects that require big picture thinking to manage. I start with an ambitious idea for something and then find a way to execute that idea. By doing this, I learn executive function along with problem solving skills. My submission puts a new spin on interactivity; instead of a project being interactive after it’s finished, this project is interactive in its design process.
I make art in two environments: games at home and sculptures at school. At home I program video games using Unity, although I used GameMaker2 to make Chromarena. Chromarena is a top-down arcade shooter I designed. While making games is a one person project for me, it is by no means solitary. I rely on the community of Unity developers to learn how to use the engine’s features, StackOverflow for programming solutions, and my friends to beta test my games. At school I build human-sized sculptures using wood, metal, nails, bolts, a lathe, and a welder. My Fab Lab teacher, Josh, is my guide in building these artworks. He helps me shape my vision into something I can realistically build. I work in a space with other students in my class, who I frequently talk to and bounce ideas off of. In both of these endeavors, I am inspired by the world around me. Whenever I’m out in the world, I observe my surroundings and see what I can learn from them.
Artmaking serves as a form of exploration, expression, and communication. To begin with, I explore the limits of my ideas and what I can do in the medium I’m working with. This includes experimenting with a new tool, applying my knowledge of the laws of physics to my creations (both physical and digital), or making a new enemy type with novel mechanics. By making something people can be intrigued by and interact with, I express myself. I also express myself through all the little details in my creations, whether that’s the elegant shape of the weight on the bottom of my pendulum or the way the assassin enemy grins when it gets behind the player. Finally, I communicate the ideas I’ve discovered and the passion I’ve put into my work by releasing it to the world.
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Expressing myself has helped me find joy in a sometimes bleak world. I like making art people interact with and designing video games. In the future, I want to design indie games as a hobby or possibly a job and make more projects like my submission.
